Love Mends All
by Blood Dripping Pen
Summary: A story of how one teenager gives Snape something he has always needed. Love and acceptance. Nonsexual First FF!
1. Drinking Memories Away

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I'm just having fun playing with them:)

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**Chapter One: Drinking Memories Away**

In another week students would be receiving their letters and supply list for the upcoming year. In another two weeks after that, carriages will be arriving at the castle. At that time new students will look in amazement at the wonders that they have heard about all their lives. Returning students will be meeting up with old friends and discussing all the wonders that had happened over summer vacation. The Great Hall will once again be filled with the laughter, drama, and gossip of the young Wizarding students of this time. The house-elves, ghosts, and other hired help were merry during this time. They loved nothing more than to prepare the castle for all the wonderful children to come back. In fact, all of the creatures of the castle were beginning to become a lot more cheerful, that was besides the professors. This was not a time of partying for the professors of Hogwarts.

Most of the professors leave the castle to spend their break either traveling, visiting family, or attending to other personal business. This usually meant that these past two weeks went by like living hell as the professors rushed to get their lesson plans completed, and all of their supplies ordered and received before the students arrived.

Severus Snape was no exception to this rule. He had only gotten back to the castle this morning from a most enjoyable holiday with his parents in Scotland. In recent years, he had been working on spending all the time that he could with his parents. After he became a Death Eater and pledged his mind, body and soul to the Dark Lord Voldemort, his parents had disowned him. Telling him that as long as he used the gift that he had been blessed with to cause others harm, that they could not find a place in their hearts, and in their lives, for him.

This is part of what ultimately caused Severus to come back into the Light and join the Order with Albus Dumbledore. For as much as he tried, he could not forget the look on his mother's disappointed face as she told him to leave her house many years before. This was a look that had haunted his dreams for many years, and sometimes even the potions that he brewed to make these go away did not help. The look on her face was as much burned into his memory as the Dark Mark of Voldemort's had been burned into his forearm. After several tormenting years though, the love of his parents burned stronger in his heart than the calling of the Dark Lord.

He still remembers the day vividly when he arrived back to Hogwarts, and begged at Albus Dumbledore's feet to help him. To save him from the Dark Lord and mostly to save him from himself, the heartless killer that he was becoming. He events of the previous night had finally snapped his already troubled heart. The Dark Lord had brought before him a Muggle child. A little girl of only seven or eight years old. The Dark Lord then ordered Severus to torture the girl, and to ultimately take her life to show his loyalty to Him.

In between the pain causing hexes that Severus had been applying to the girl, a simple plead came from the girl's mouth.

"Stop him Uncle Sean," escaped the girl's mouth as her broken body fell back to the floor.

"Stop!" ordered the Dark Lord and all the eyes of his loyal Death Eaters were upon him as he slowly walked over to the girl's body.

"Who is this Uncle Sean you speak of girl? Is your Uncle Sean in this room?" He said as a bit of excitement washed over his face.

"He's standing over there Sir," the girl pointed to a dark haired man that had been among the Dark Lord's lower ranks. He was recruited not very long ago actually, and trying desperately to do everything in his power to please the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord thought the boy showed a lot of promise.

"This ought to show me where his loyalties lay," the Dark Lord thought to himself as a loud fit of laughter escaped from his mouth.

"Who would have known that our toy for the evening would be a relative of one of my very own?" he bellowed to his followers.

With that, he called the young man before him, as he knelt at his Lord's feet. This is when he was ordered to take the girl's life. To show what mattered most in his heart.

"Don't you love me Uncle?" were the last words to escape the girl's lips as the Killing Curse hit her body. Killed by her own uncle in the name of the Dark Lord.

The boy turned quickly away from the body as he approached the Dark Lord. "I will always be loyal to you, My Lord," he stated in an emotionless tone as he kissed his Lord's staff.

That was when something broke inside of him. He couldn't imagine having to kill one of his own family members. He had killed his share of Muggles to prove his loyalty to the Lord, but never someone that he actually loved. He knew he had to get out of there and the only person he could think of that would be compassionate enough to help him, was Albus Dumbledore.

He remembers how Albus had held onto him that night, promising to do whatever he could to help him. He explained that he knew that the Dark Lord was not really Severus's calling. But that he had to sit back and wait for the time when Severus would realize this on his own, and then he would be able to do what he could to help him make amends for the wrong that he had done. It had been 9 years ago to this very day that Albus had changed his life for the better. He given him hope for a future, something that the Dark Lord could not.

It took his parents a couple of years to come to terms and believe that he had come to the Light. Even though he still made potions for the Dark Lord and followed his calling, they knew that it was all part of his new job. He was making amends as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. The thought that he had been a spy for Albus was beyond them, and even frightened them more than when he was working directly for the Dark Lord. But they knew their son needed him now more than ever, and as a parent, they had to do what they could to support him now that he had put his life in danger just to fall back into their favor. It was the least that they could do for him.

But today, Severus had to worry about other things. The worst part about summer for him was the fact that there were no students to give detentions to. Which means, no students to clean up his room and potion supplies for him. Of course, he could have house-elves scrub out his cauldrons, organize his private ingredient store, and straighten up his personal library, but he didn't trust them. They didn't fear him like the students do. They would surely make mistakes, and in the world of Severus Snape, he had it drilled into his head in past years that there was not enough room for mistakes, as they can be deadly.

Up in Gryffindor Tower, Minerva McGonnagall had her own problems to worry about now. She had spent most of the morning up in the Tower where the students whom she was Head of House for had their dormitories. She always made sure to come and make sure everything was perfect for the children to arrive. She also did a bit of decorating in the common room and filled it with treats, just so that they would know she cared. Although this year, as she walked around the familiar common room, looking at the familiar portraits and banners of famous Gryffindors of the past, her mind was not full of happy thoughts and her stomach did not set easily.

Her thoughts turned to Harry Potter. She was sure that there would be a portrait of him hanging in the common room one day, if not all over the school for that matter. For it would make him a greater hero than he already is when he finally defeated the Dark Lord for the final time. Never in all of her years would she have believed that it would be up to one of her students to bring an end to him. Could they really expect Harry to defeat the Dark Lord on his own? And did they even have the right to ask him to do this? She already knew the answer to these questions though. There was no other choice and as much as she would surely rather send a team of Aurors to fight him, she simply knew that there was no way of ending this without Harry. Sighing to herself, remembering all those years ago when her and Albus had delivered him to his aunt and uncle's. She had known then that Harry had been blessed, but she always thought that the Order would have been stronger by now, and that they would have already destroyed the Dark Lord before Harry had even come of age to be introduced to the Wizarding world and all the troubles that came with being Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. But that was not the case, as things never seem to go easy in the world of witches and wizards.

She knew that young Harry Potter had been facing battles with Voldemort since his first year at Hogwarts. The boy had managed to escape him for the past five years, but not without paying a price. Him and his friends had been injured, he witnessed his friend's death at the hands of a Death Eater as well as the death of his uncle Sirius Black just earlier this year. That was too much to ask of a young boy to handle, yet she knew that Harry was not an ordinary boy. He was the chosen one, the one that would have to end it all.

Shaking her head trying to clear it of these thoughts, she organized the last of the bottles of butterbeer in the common room self-cooling space-saver beverage cooler.

"Things were going to be alright," she thought. "This year we have access to information we've never had in the past. New devices to aid us in battle, and more spies among the Dark Lord's ranks than ever before. This year was going to be the year that we will finally defeat Voldemort once and for all. This year, Harry won't be alone when he takes him down." The thought of this bought a small to Minerva's face for the first time in weeks.

"One more year and it will be all over," she smiled joyfully to herself.

Deep in the dungeons of the castle, Snape was just finishing up putting his private security wards back up on his classroom and store. He did not trust his classroom to be left open like the rest of the professors in the school did. There was too much there, ingredients that were too rare, too valuable, and too dangerous for them to accidentally fall into the hands of a misguided house-elf or nosy students. That was one mess he was not going to try to chance having to clean up. He would rather everyone think that he was a paranoid old git, than think of the consequences that himself, or even the entire school would have to face if things ever got too out of hand.

As he walked along the dark corridors leading to his chambers, all that was on his mind was needing to relax. Surely cleaning wasn't a horribly difficult task, but it was one in which Snape did not enjoy. He despised the same old day to day life, doing the same things repeatedly over and over again. This meant that he would not like tomorrow's chores. Tomorrow he would be making up countless vials of Dreamless Sleep Potion, Burn Salve, Bone Healing Serum, and other supplies that he had promised Poppy. Poppy had been the medi-witch for Hogwarts Castle as long as Snape could remember. Even back when he was a student there. As Potions Master of the school, it was his job to supply her with the potions she would need to heal the students from the countless injuries they were bound to have during the year. Magic was not an idiot-proof subject to learn.

Sitting down on his bed, Snape reached over onto his nightstand and pulled out a bottle of firewiskey. Tilting his head back he began to drink, and drink he did until the bottle of firewiskey was empty, then he unceremoniously threw the bottle into the corner, where countless other bottles lay. Drinking seemed to be the only thing that he could do to get the memories to go away.

"Why did all of this have to happen to me?" was the last thought that crossed Snape's mind before he slipped into a land of darkness filled with nightmares of his past.

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So whatcha think? This is my first taste at writing fanfic so reviews would be welcomed. Also if anyone is interested in Beta reading or co-writing, drop me a line, I could use some help:) Thanks! 


	2. Thankful for Interruptions

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I'm just having fun playing with them.

A/N: Here's another chapter. I'm doing my best to try to update at least once every two weeks. This chapter wrote itself quickly but the editting came slowly. Plus I just started school and all of that fun stuff. I'm actually wondering if anyone's reading this so far, if so please review. Any comments welcome. Enjoy.

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**Chapter Two: Thankful for Interruptions**

It was 1 o' clock in the afternoon when the professors of Hogwarts heard the familiar train whistle. Today was the start of a new year. The beginning of school used to be such a warm time for the professors. But the events of the past few years have made it an experience almost unwelcoming as they feared what would come with this year. Voldemort had entered the school many times, and that put the students at risk. How he managed to break all of the security was a mystery, but somehow his plans had almost always succeeded. Times are looking dark for Hogwarts, but everyone had hopes that the Light would prevail.

"I don't know what your talking about Rob, but I certainly think visiting the world's largest Wizarding Library would have been the highlight of my summer," Hermione Granger stated to her best friend. "Personally, I'm quite jealous of you!" She finished with a huff.

Rob Wealsey, who isn't as obsessed with reading as his best friend is, could only respond with a look to his other friend Harry, that pleaded, "Help me out of this please!"

"Hermione, just because you read every book you own forty million times doesn't mean you have to belittle Rob for not being as excited as you would be," Harry snapped in reply.

"Whoa, what's your problem Harry? What happened to you over the summer that has you in such a bad mood?" Hermione questioned, her tone obviously deflated from it's usual know-it-all self.

"Well I --" Harry started, thankfully interrupted by the sound of Professor McGonagall rounding up the students in her house.

At this point Harry could not have been happier for this interruption. His summer had not been pleasant, and he really didn't want to think about it. He was just overly happy to finally be back at Hogwarts, where he wouldn't have to think of the events that happened just mere weeks ago.

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All anyone could hear as they entered the Great Hall would be the constant chitter chatter among the returning students. One glace at the front of the Hall could tell you that the first year students had more on their minds than idol chit-chat.

Today is what is known as the Sorting Ceremony, a part of the Welcoming Feast that is thrown on the first day of every year. All of the frightened looks is mainly because it is on this very day that every first year student would be sorted into their respected House. This house would determine who they would become friends with, what classes they would be sharing with other students, where their dormitories were located, and even what House Quidditch team they would be cheering for for the next 7 years that they attended Hogwarts.

This is a very serious time for the new students because they will also discover hidden traits about themselves that they may not have realized yet, fore you are sorted into houses by what is inside of you – and I'm not talking about your organs.

Now you might wonder who would be best to judge your inner character, considering it means so much about your schooling for the next years to come. It happens to be none other than the one-of-a-kind, never wrong, all knowing, Sorting... Hat!

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But the Sorting Ceremony was old news to the three best friends that sat at the Gryffindor table. Each were filled with different emotions as their class schedules appeared in front of them. Carefully overlooking the schedules that were placed before them. Ron looked as if he had been hit with an Unforgivable Curse, as Hermione sat with her jaw slightly opened up.

"How could they require us to take Double Potions class, three times per week?" asked Harry Potter of his friends. That would mean six hours would be spent down in the dungeons with Professor Snape. Many would think a lifetime in the Incurable Ward at St. Mungo's Wizarding Hospital would be most pleasant when compared to what they would endure from Hogwarts Potions Master.

"Well, it is a N.E.W.T. level class Harry, and one of the most esteemed as far as results go," Hermione told her friends. It seemed as though you could tell this girl she would have to live with Professor Snape, and she wouldn't mind as long as it would better her education.

"I don't care how important this class is, it doesn't mean that I have to like it one bit," said the red-haired boy, a characteristic trait of the Wealsey family that Ron had also been blessed with.

"We'll live Ron, we always do," Harry sighed as he heard the sound of metal hitting metal as the Headmaster signaled everyone's attention. It was a magic in it's own as the hundreds of students in the Great Hall instantly hushed their conversations and gave their full attention to Headmaster Dumbledore.

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"Firstly, I'd like to welcome our incoming first year students and welcome back our returning students. As always the beginning of a new year is a chance to start anew. Let's hope this year is our best yet!" as the Headmaster said these words the hall rose in cheers but quickly ceased so the Headmaster could continue.

"Also, I'd like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students. If at anytime you think you have a reason to enter the forest, please contact your Head of House or another professor and we'll make arrangements for someone to enter with you. Mr. Filch also has posted a list of all of the objects that are banned from being used in the school. This list is posted inside of each of your common rooms. Please respect the staff's wishes with these restrictions." As this was announced it seemed that there was no bigger sign than that of the Golden Trio since they were sure all items from Ron's brother's joke shop would be banned.

"And finally, I would like you all to welcome Professor Lupin back as our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Most of you will be pleased to know of his return, I am sure. Now on with the Feast everyone!"

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Harry was stunned. Professor Lupin couldn't be back. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to face him after avoiding his messages all summer. He hadn't even read them, to be honest. He knew that he hated him for killing Sirius. It was his fault that Sirirus had died, that Professor Lupin's best friend, one of the last of the famous Marauders, was gone forever. The thought of dropping DADA was out of the question. He'll just have to deal with another teacher hating him. Snape already did, so what's one more to deal with? These thoughts ended as he felt a gentle tug on his robe.

Looking over, he noticed a frightened looking first year boy standing there. "Did we really look that small when we were first years?" he quickly thought to himself.

"Mr. Potter, my name's Jimmy.. and I just wanted to say thanks for what your doing. My grandmum says your going to make sure the world is safe for me to grow up," the little boy said.

"Me? Save the world? Why does everyone have to think this!" mentally angry with this burden that was placed upon his shoulders for being the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. Another thought made him realize that it was not this boy's fault though.

"Thank you Jimmy. That means a lot to me. But please, don't call me Mr. Potter. Only Professor Snape calls me that, my friends just call me Harry," he said with a smile. It was the truth, it did mean a lot after all of the accusations against him last year along with nearly the entire Wizarding world hating him.

"Thank you Harry, um could I ask you a favor?" Jimmy said with a small nervous laugh.

"Whatcha need?" Harry replied, wondering if the boy was going to ask him to check his dorm for Death Eaters, or put up some magical charm to protect him.

"I was wondering... if it wasn't too much trouble... see my grandmum's birthday is coming up... and she went to school with your Dad's parents.. and she thinks you look like your dad since she knew him as a boy... and I wanted to see if you'd sign this picture I have of you so I could give it to her," stuttering the last few words Jimmy finished his request. His worlds all seemed to bunch together as he shifted back and forth on his feet.

"This boy is more of a wreck than Neville in Snape's class," Harry thought before answering the boy.

"Of course I will. Actually, you might be able to do me a favor as well. When you give your grandmum her gift, would you ask her if I could write to her sometime? I'd love to know more about my grandparents," Harry told the boy.

"Certainly! She's love that! Thank you so much Harry. Is it okay if I bring the picture by later? It's in my trunk and see my trunk is in my dorm room and--" then Harry cut the smiling boy off as he saw the Perfects gathering the kids up to show them to their dorms, and they'd be in trouble if they missed them.

"That's fine. We better get moving though because our group is being lead to our dorms, and we don't want to get left behind now, do we?" Harry asked the boy.

With that, both boys went along to catch up with the rest of their housemates on the way to Gryffindor Tower.

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Back in Gryffindor Tower, the three friends came together once more. Harry was finally happy, to be home again after the summer. Home at Hogwarts, the first place he ever felt friendship and love. The first place he was truly happy and accepted for being who he was.

After some aimless chatter between the friends, Harry excused himself and walked up to his dorm room. Falling into bed he tried to relax his thoughts and clear his mind. Quickly, he drifted of into a peaceful sleep.


End file.
